Sunday, July 5, 2015

Opinion: Why I Disagree With The Removal of The Confederate Flag From A Federal Building

While I disagree with the message that having a Confederate flag hanging in from of a state or federal building implies, I don't believe that Ms Newsome's actions were right or justified.

It's the Charlie Hebdo thing all over again, though with fewer hospitalizations. People think that violence is an acceptable justification for offensive speech.

Defacing a building, be it a government building or one owned by a corporation or private individual, by adding, altering, or removing a piece of the property is a form of violence. It may not directly cause harm to come to another person, but the argument could be easily made that indirectly it can and does cause harm.

It's possible that her actions were necessary to open the eyes of other people and start them talking to get the "problem" of offensive speech revised. I'm okay with the talking, but not with the mild violence that occurred to get it to happen.